Serotypes & penicillin susceptibility of Streptococcus pneumoniae isolated from children admitted to a tertiary teaching hospital in Malaysia
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2018
Abstract
Background & objectives: Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) is a highly invasive extracellular pathogen that causes diseases such as pneumonia, otitis media and meningitis. This study was undertaken to determine the serotype diversity and penicillin susceptibility of S. pneumoniae isolated from paediatric patients in a tertiary teaching hospital in Malaysia. Methods: A total of 125 clinical isolates collected from January 2013 to May 2015 were serotyped using seven sequential multiplex polymerase chain reactions. The susceptibility of these isolates to penicillin was also investigated. Results: Serotypes detected among the isolates were serotypes 3, 6A/B, 6C, 11/A/D/F, 15A/F, 19A, 19F, 23A, 23F, 34. Serotypes 19F and 6A/B were the most prevalent serotypes detected. Most of the S. pneumoniae were isolated from nasopharyngeal samples of children below five years of age. Majority of the isolates were penicillin susceptible. Only 5.6 per cent of the isolates were non-susceptible to penicillin, mostly of serotype 19F. Interpretation & conclusions: Our study revealed the distribution of various serotypes in S. pneumoniae isolates obtained from children in a teaching hospital at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and decreasing rates of penicillin resistance among them. The shifts in serotypes and susceptibility to penicillin from time to time have been observed. Continuous monitoring and surveillance are pivotal for better infection control and management of pneumococcal infections among children.
Keywords
Capsular typing, pneumococcus, pneumonia, sequential multiplex PCR, serotyping, Streptococcus pneumoniae
Divisions
fac_med
Funders
University of Malaya Research Grant (UMRG: RP026B-14HTM),University of Malaya High Impact Research (grant number: H-50001-00-A000025)
Publication Title
Indian Journal of Medical Research
Volume
148
Issue
2
Publisher
Medknow Publications